Forever
by czarinaandrea
Summary: A Jace and Clary love story.
1. Prologue

**TITLE: FOREVER**

**Chapter 1**

It was the first day of my senior year and all of my friends and classmates were excited for college. Our parents constantly reminded us to be serious about college. They kept on deciding our future for us—they told us to take entrance exams to the universities of their choice, they chose our own course for us, even though we wanted a different course and all that college crap. We couldn't blame them though; they were going to be the ones paying for our tuition fees, house rent, food, transportation and other stuff.

My other friends kept on thinking about love. Some of them have experienced relationships with different people. They kept falling in love like there was no tomorrow. Please don't think I was jealous of them. On the contrary, I considered myself lucky because I was free from the distraction called love. I didn't have to think about a girlfriend who kept on whining about my busy schedule or kept comparing herself to other girls. I never even thought about falling in love. Never.

I was different. I was focused on my goals. I had a strong sense of responsibility.

My name is Jace Lightwood, and this is my story.


	2. Chapter 1

**TITLE: FOREVER**

**Chapter 1**

It was the first day of my senior year and all of my friends and classmates were excited for college. Our parents constantly reminded us to be serious about college. They kept on deciding our future for us—they told us to take entrance exams to the universities of their choice, they chose our own course for us, even though we wanted a different course and all that college crap. We couldn't blame them though; they were going to be the ones paying for our tuition fees, house rent, food, transportation and other stuff.

My other friends kept on thinking about love. Some of them have experienced relationships with different people. They kept falling in love like there was no tomorrow. Please don't think I was jealous of them. On the contrary, I considered myself lucky because I was free from the distraction called love. I didn't have to think about a girlfriend who kept on whining about my busy schedule or kept comparing herself to other girls. I never even thought about falling in love. Never.

I was different. I was focused on my goals. I had a strong sense of responsibility.

My name is Jace Lightwood, and this is my story.


	3. Chapter 2

**TITLE: FOREVER**

**Chapter 2**

First semester passed by so quickly. I can't tell if the first semester was uneventful or not, but I have to say that the second semester of my senior year changed my life completely.

As I said, I was different. I mostly kept to myself. I sat alone in the corner of the cafeteria. People just passed me by, thinking that I was some kind of outcast. I was geeky, 5'11 boy to them. I never minded them. I have my own life. They can say whatever they want to say and I wouldn't care. To them, I was a teacher's pet—a nickname for someone who was responsible enough to think about their future. Instead of being involved with sports, I immersed myself in learning music and arts. I was already a member of the school's orchestra. I played the piano and the acoustic and electric guitar. Since it was my senior year, I decided to join the art club.

And that's when I met her.

Cliché as it may sound, but it was love at first sight for me. I've heard about Clary Fray since my freshman year, but I never got interested enough to actually get to know her. How can someone like me compare to her? How can my messy, dirty blond hair, deep blue eyes and thin red lips compare to her fiery red hair, emerald green eyes and luscious red lips? Now I know what my friends have been crazy about since the dawn of the time.

The first time your heart flies like a humming bird, the first time you get sweaty palms with the thought of trying to ask her out, the first time you stutter, you almost forget what you're about to say, the first time you experience a constant difficulty in trying to keep eye contact… All of those, I felt during my second semester. And all of those I felt, because of Clary.


	4. Chapter 3

**TITLE: FOREVER**

**Chapter 3**

The Art Club adviser was Ms. Amatis Herondale. She greeted me with a smile as I entered the classroom for our first club meeting. Ms. Amatis Herondale was a 30-year-old single woman who dedicated her life to teaching students. She was beautiful; she had shiny auburn hair and a pair of baby blue eyes. She had a uh, well-developed body and she didn't look like the other teachers here in school. And believe me, teachers like Ms. Amatis are RARE here in my high school. I often wondered why a woman like her wasn't married yet. Some male students and even teachers tried courting her, but Ms. Lisa always, well, for the lack of a better term, dumped them.

"Good afternoon, Jace." Ms. Amatis greeted.

"Good afternoon too, Ms. Amatis." I greeted back.

"Hey, since you're our only new member this year, I'll introduce you to the class. We're like family here in the art club. Is that alright?" she asked me with a smile.

I pitied the club a little bit. I was the only new member. The art club wasn't exactly famous next to the varsity teams… But I felt a little nervous about the introduction part. I wouldn't want to embarrass myself in front of Clary. I can now imagine myself with a bright red face and I can hear the laughter as I try to blurt out a single coherent sentence.

I shook my head. Now wasn't the time to act like a coward. I was just going to introduce myself, I wasn't going to strip my clothes and be a model for the sketches. I sighed.

"Sure, Ms. Amatis." I resigned.

"Okay. Wonderful! Let me just greet the class first." she told me before going inside the classroom.

I patiently waited outside. I couldn't hear what Ms. Amatis was telling the class. I tuned her out. I was more nervous about seeing Clary. I scratched my head furiously. _Stop overthinking, Jace. You'll be fine!_ Yeah, I hope so. And then the door opened and Ms. Amatis ushered me into the room.

The art room was full of well, art stuff. Dirty paintbrushes placed in jars with water on table, sketchpads were stacked lazily on the bookshelves and everyone was wearing paint-stained aprons. Sadly, there were only eleven people in the room—including me. Everyone sat in pairs. The only empty chair was the chair beside Clary. I gulped. I had a feeling I would be sitting there until the year ends.

"Okay everybody, our new member is Jace Lightwood. Please welcome him into our family with a smile." she told the class.

Everybody muttered their hellos. But the only voice I heard was Clary's.

"Jace, everybody sits in pairs here in the club. Whoever is sitting next to you is your partner for the projects. Since everybody is paired up, I think it's alright if I pair you with my best student," Ms. Amatis whispered, because everyone else started with the first project of the semester—a sketch of their partner's face.

_I knew it._ I thought. I'll be sitting next to Clary. I couldn't decide if that was good or bad.

"Alright miss. I'll be sitting next to Clary Fray, right?" I asked nervously.

Ms. Amatis laughed quietly. "You sound nervous. Don't worry. Clary's a really nice girl. Well, go on. I don't accept late submissions." she smiled.

I nodded. Shaking, I made my way to the back of the room where Clary was seated. I noticed that she had her hair up and she was wearing a purple sweatshirt, a pair of faded blue jeans, and a pair of black Converse shoes. So simple, yet the way she looked took my breath away.

"Hi there. My name is Clary Fray. Nice to meet you." she said with her right hand outstretched in front of me.

"Same here too. My name is Jace Lightwood." I replied as I took her hand in mine and shook it.

I liked the way my hand fit hers, or maybe vice-versa. After shaking hands with her, I took a seat beside her and took my sketchpad out of my backpack. Clary already had hers on top of the table with a charcoal pencil and a piece of bread. I felt small because I realized I would only be using an ordinary pencil with an ordinary rubber eraser.

She laughed at my expression. "Oh, don't be intimidated. I'm only experimenting with charcoal. Don't worry."

My face felt hot. "Uh, okay." I replied weakly.

She laughed again. God, I love the sound of her laugh.

"So, maybe I'll go first? Just sit comfortably and pose in whichever way you want to." instructed Clary.

_Whichever way,huh?_ Fine. So, I slumped and opened my sketchpad. I grabbed my pencil and started doodling scribbles on the first page. I heard her laugh softly and I couldn't help but smile. Then I heard the scratching of charcoal on paper. I decided that I would surprise her.

I turned to the next page of my sketchpad and I started sketching her. I had to be careful, so I peeked at her through the corner of my eyes. I absorbed every detail; the way her bangs nearly touched her eyebrows, the sparkle in her eyes, the almost invisible dimple on her right cheek, the shape of her lips… Everything. A few minutes before she finished sketching me, I was done with hers.

"Jace, I'm finished. Do you want to see?" she asked me cheerfully.

"Yeah. Well, I'm done too." I said nonchalantly.

"Done? Wait, you sketched me too?" she asked, clearly surprised.

I felt victorious inside. She didn't notice me staring at her. Wait, I wasn't staring…

Flustered, we both exchanged our sketchpads and we both gasped.

"Wow." we both muttered at the same time.

We raised our heads at the same time and we laughed. I love this, I realize. Now this is a memory I'll treasure.

"This is very impressive, Jace. Really. I never even noticed you were sketching me already." she ended her statement in a fit of giggles.

I laughed. "That was the point actually. I wanted to surprise you."

"Well, thank you." Clart said.

I smiled. "Yours is very impressive as well. I love the details." I said.

"Thank you. Well, I reckon we aren't going to submit this to Ms. Lisa. I think she'll ask us to keep this as a souvenir." she glanced at Ms. Amatis. She winked at Clary. Clary was right.

"Class, when you're done, exchange your portraits with your partners. After that, you can go home." announced Ms. Amatis. "I need to attend a teachers' meeting in five minutes." Then she left the room.

"Hey Jace, let's do this: you keep this portrait you drew and I'll keep mine. It's better that way, right?" Clary suggested.

It wasn't a bad idea either. I get to keep something from the first club meeting. An idea occurred to me.

"Why don't we both write dedications at the back? To make the portraits more memorable?" I suggested.

Clary looked at me with a thoughtful face. She smiled and said, "Sure. Why not?"

I turned over the piece of paper where she drew my face on. I wrote:

_Clary, hi. I like your drawing. I've got to say that you have an eye for detail. I can't believe you saw that small mole beneath my left eye. That's amazing. I'll keep this drawing. Thank you. Jace. :)_

That was my message. Very normal and I made sure I wrote no hints to my true feelings. We returned each other's drawings and bid good bye to each other.

"Good bye Jace. See you tomorrow!" Clary shouted over the noise in the hallway.

I read her message on the way home:

_Hello Jace. I love your drawing. I can't believe you drew me while I was drawing you! I was really surprised. All the while I thought you were so interested on paintings behind me, it never occurred to me you were drawing my face already. Haha. You have a talent, Jace. Cherish that. I'm so glad you joined the art club. No one ever joins us. I know we'll be great friends, Jace. I'll keep this drawing. Take care. From, Clary._

I looked at my drawing of her again. I better buy a frame for this one; I wouldn't want it to get dirty. I wore a goofy smile on the way home.


End file.
